Weekend at Lutz Farm

It had been a couple of years since our last visit to Lutz Farm, situated in the hills behind Otaki.  Follow the balloons, we were told, to take us to the area we were camping.  We drove past some small calves, turning corners with balloons tied on posts, almost down to the river, until we reached the correct paddock to find  several vans on site.

Follow the balloons, we were told

Autumn has definitely arrived, and the temperatures are much colder now.  So nippy that we had 4zees outside all rugged up in jackets and a few woolly hats.  It was fairly breezy and the rain didn’t seem too far away.

4zees time

Saturday morning saw us heading off to the Bus Stop Café in Otaki for morning tea.  This is a quirky place, with food and drinks served from the big blue bus on site.  Seating is dotted around the grounds, mostly gazebo style, and the place is dog friends, with plenty of dogs and their owners dropping in.  We managed to get one of the busy staff members to take our photo for us.

Blue Bus Café for morning tea

Over the weekend Lorraine had arranged a Mystery Bag competition.  Little numbered bags were pegged on a small clothesline and we had to carefully feel each bag and try to work out what was hidden inside.  Some of the items were relatively easy to identify, and others we just didn’t have a clue.  We didn’t do very well, guessing only 18 out of 26.  Dennis was the winner with a score of 23.

What’s hiding in the little bags.

We were having a sing-along in the evening and really needed somewhere to gather together out of the wind.  Barry kindly went home to get his gazebo and then had to remember how to put it all together.  Success at last, and it was attached to Geoff’s awning, with various tarpaulins added to the sides wind proof us later in the evening.

Kiwi ingenuity

We had a real treat before our evening entertainment arrived – toasted marshmallows!  And not just any marshmallows, “Flamin Mallows” especially made for BBQs and extra long.  Dennis had made long toasting forks for us all, and we gathered around the fiery brazier toasting our marshmallows.

Toasting our marshmallows

Dennis’s friend brought his guitar along and entertained us in our cozy cobbled together awning.  At my request, he played my favourite, Ten Guitars, and we all sang along.  In fact, the group was I fine voice all evening, singing along to all those songs from years gone by.  It’s amazing what we remembered, and with a few chords, most of the words came tumbling out. 

Sing-along time

We had a great time at Lutz Farm, and no wonder the weather was chilly.  During the weekend, many places have recorded their coldest temperatures so far this year, we heard on the news.  No wonder we needed the quilt on the bed, instead of lying just under a sheet, as we had done last week at home!